Alpha
by Xander-San
Summary: Because Jaune isn't a fan of this whole 'subtle' thing. Because there are reasons why the Faunus population of vale is one in every ten, and why they tried to lock an entire part of Humanity away on an island and throw away the key. Because Julius Arc took 'know your enemy' a little farther than Vale liked, and because Jaune always got the short end of the stick. Faunus!Jaune, JxB
1. Chapter 1

**I'm going to be taking a lot of… creative liberties, shall we say, with this story. Chief among them being my own interpretation of the Great War and the Faunus/Human conflicts, as well as some things about Faunus bloodlines and whatnot. Because the way that it's described in RWBY – One Faunus plus one human = Faunus, Faunus(of same type) + Faunus = human or random Faunus, ect… that's not how genetics work.**

 **I also realize that RWBY – or, at least, Rooster Teeth via livestream - explicitly stated that Faunus can only have a single animal trait, but for the sake of the story we're going to say that the 'stronger' your Faunus heritage is the more traits you end up with.**

 **I'm borrowing different ideas on Faunus culture from several different fics, as well as my own ideas, so none of this could really be called canon. It's a fanfic, obv.**

 **At the point and time of writing this RWBY is not yet finished, so I may end up making things up to fill gaps that will be later filled in the series.**

 **I will only say it once, and in case it isn't clear, I do not own RWBY. That honor goes to Rooster teeth and the late Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.**

Jaune really, really hated airships.

Hate was a bit of a misnomer, really. Too soft of a word for the deep, absolute, heart-swallowing black anger that was how much he absolutely fucking despised airships. Something about not being on the ground, not being able to trust your own two feet and sense of balance, be able to grab ahold of the tree or even sit down for a moment if you knew you were going to fall -

The ship rocked minutely under his feet, and he tensed up, a wave of insecurity and bile billowing up in his throat. If he were on the ground, or even on a boat, he'd be fine with it rocking. But hundreds of feet up in the air when

Jaune hated airships.

But, of course, everyone else and their monkey's uncle decided that floating balloons were the epitome of mass transportation. Jaune, on the other hand, would much prefer an train, or a bus, or even _walking._

Because balloons pop pretty easy, to be honest.

He sighed, biting his lip in frustration as the ship tilted slightly again – almost too slightly to notice, even if you were looking for it. Of course, to anyone with any sort of combat training, you notice damn near instantly when your footing changes.

So not only was he trapped in a giant fragile cage, held aloft by and oversized party favor, he was also instinctively shifting on his feet and having mini-adrenaline rushes as his footing slipped back and forth.

The whispers weren't helping, either.

He was more than used to people talking behind his back at this point – kind of par for the course, really, when you're the heir to the Arc line, bearer to what was quite possibly the most famous sword in Vale, and, well, not dead like everyone thought you were since birth.

The whole 'being a Faunus' bit was probably a big factor, too.

He sighed, his ears twitching in sync with his eyelid as they caught every single damn whisper that was muttered supposedly out of his hearing range.

 _You think that the giant, grey, furry ears are kind of a giveaway that I have above-average hearing._

Yes, he had ears. Yellow furred, pointed, wolf (not dog, dammit. Lupine, not Canine) ears that popped up out of his unruly mop of hair like a pair of middle fingers to the delicate sensibilities of everyone in Vale who, well, wasn't a Faunus or related to a Faunus.

Because propaganda and bigotry ahoy.

"…Said he was stillborn, but I bet that was a way to get past the rulings.."

"Shame such an important sword ended up in his hands…"

"Pappa won't like when he hears about…"

"…so sad that Beacon lowered their standards enough to…"

Jaune bit his lip with larger-than-normal canines, strong enough to draw blood and realized he was growling deep in his throat. The balloon shifted again, harder than usually this time, and Jaune was unsettled enough that it made him stumble a small amount to his left. The whispers increased in volume.

"Yo, foxy, you ok there?" The voice came from behind him, and his grip tightened on the metal railing.

Unnoticed, the metal groaned under his grip. The – obviously female – voice continued on, either not noticing or not caring about how his growl resurfaced and his shoulders hunched.

"Because, I know a guy, if you want a cuddle, or some airsick tablets, or maybe a –"

"I swear to god if you say bone I will rip your throat out." He said, turning slowly to glare at the… offender.

The blonde girl stood there, two fingers held up from whatever she was listing out from before. Her hands were gloved and pretty heavily gauntleted, and her expression was one of shock. A shorter, but incredibly, well, adorable black haired girl in what could only be described as a little red riding hood outfit stood next to her, bouncing on her heels, not even bothered by threats of death and/or mayhem.

"…Was actually going to say some ginger ale, but I guess bone works if you want one. Wasn't gonna be that rude, but I mean if you're down for a roast, I really _bring the heat_." The black haired(still absolutely adorable) girl rolled her eyes with a groan.

"Yang, we talked about this. Its been like ten seconds since we talked about this. No more puns."

Yang – that's what he guessed her name was, so long as Lil' red wasn't talking to ghosts - just grinned the most obviously shit-eating grin he had ever seen.

"Just _Yang_ in there, Ruby, it gets worse."

"Yaaaaaaannnnng. I will cut you. Deeply, and multiple times."

Jaune sighed, once more running his hands through his hair, over his ears(which was a habit of his when he got stressed. Somehow he got the feeling his hands would be in his hair a lot) and gave a dull look to the blonde.

"Sorry. I get a lot of the 'wanna bone' one, usually shortly after being called 'doggy, fido, wolfy' or some other variant. Foxy is new though."

Yang snorted. "Glad to be a first. So." She gave him an assessing once-over, eyes darting from head to toe, then leaned in with a smirk. "Wanna bone?" Ruby did some weird combination of snort, shocked gasp and choke, but Jaune just sighed.

"Also gotten that variant about sixty or so times, usually from either morally bankrupt people or ones who, for whatever reason, sort having a tail in with being gay. So no. I do not want either or any forms of bone or boning…" He raked his eyes slowly up her body, hoping to draw a blush or at least get her to back off. "No matter how tempting the offer may be."

Ruby just turned a shade of red that matched her (still absolutely adorable, how the hell did she get into a school for _hired assassins and grim killers._ It's like putting a puppy on steroids or dust supplements or something) cloak, then groaned when Yang leaned forward and growled, raking her hands in a claw motion. "Mm. Ill remember you." She extended her hand out, grinning. "Yang Xio-Long. Please to meet you."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, then took her proffered hand. "Jaune Arc, heir of House Arc. And trust me, the pleasure is mine." A very sauve and savvy introduction, he thought. Barring the whole 'sorry I threatened to kill you for being nice' bit at the beginning.

The airship began to bank to bleed off speed for its descent, and he then proceeded to ruin the introduction by vomiting on Yang's boots.

"Papa?"

Jacob Arc, the head of House Arc, was organizing the house finances and attempting to find a way to both pay for his expenses and keep his shareholders happy. He quickly looked up from his list of holdings, dropping his pen hurriedly on his desk and dropping to his knees, ready for one of his sons signature tackle hugs – then frowned when no ball of yellow hair and giggling fury slammed into him.

"Papa, why does everyone hate me?"

He sighed, deep and sorrowful. _Knew this day would come sooner or later._ He walked to his son, who was standing in the door. His outfit – the jeans and brown shirt he refused to take off, no matter what – was scuffed with dirt, hopefully from him playing.

More possibly, from some things a lot less fun.

He closed his eyes, crossing himself (in the traditional way – Monty, Oum, Rooster, Teeth) and walking slowly to his son, picking the near-tears boy up in his arms.

"Why don't we go to the sitting room and talk, and see if someone wont bring us some cocoa as well?" He gestured with his free arm to one of the waiting servants standing in the corner, who promptly bowed and left to the kitchen.

He walked with the boy in his arms, Jaune's head snuggled into his shoulder. The boy's furry ears tickled Jacob's nose, and he had to fight a sneeze.

When they reached the sitting room – the east wing sitting room, the one they used for informal occasions and story time – he sat down in his easy chair, resting the boy in his lap.

Jaune blinked big blue puppy eyes up at him, tears mostly gone(and damn if Jacob didn't want to find out who made his boy cry and _choke them_ ). Jacob sighed again, waiting until Jaune took his cocoa from the servant and had taken a sip before asking.

"Why do you say that everyone hates you, Jaune?"

Jaune set his saucer down on the table next to them(no coaster under it, Linda would be _pissed_ later) and looked down.

"The other kids at school don't lemme play with them, papa. And… and they call me things."

Jacob had to wrest his anger back lest his semblance start activating on accident. Last thing he needed was to send the boy flying off his lap. He breathed a deep breath, then asked "What kinds of things, Jaune?"

"Mostly stupid things. Dog things, like fido or mutt. Its not that bad, their just a buncha stupid meanies. But…" he trailed off, looking up at his father.

"They say I'm not human, papa. Why do they say that?"

Jacob took another deep breath, looking up. _Oum help me from murdering an elementary school._ "Well, Jaune… you aren't."

He hurried on quickly when his son shot him a hurt look, eyes wide in shock. "You're a Faunus, Jaune. That's not a bad thing. In lots of places, its perfectly normal and even a good thing to be a Faunus. Because you can hear better, and run faster, and fight stronger. But…"

"You're different from the other kids, and – once again, not a bad thing – and people are scared of things that are different. And when people are scared of things, well… they usually either run from them or fight them."

He ran his hands through the boys mass of blonde hair, scratching behind his ears. Jaune scowled, shaking his head and Jacob just smiled, before continuing. "Honestly, I bet that it's not even the kids at school who don't like you – it's their parents who teach them to hate Faunus." He felt the need to throw a few words onto the word 'parents' but decided not to – he was only eight after all.

"Why don't they like Funus, Papa?" Jaune asked, eyes completely tear free and looking up at him as if he knew everything. _To be that young again…_

"Faunus, little pup." He said, poking the boy on the nose. Jaune scrunched up said nose before rubbing it and giggling. "Well. Remember great-great grandpa Julius Arc?"

"The one who used Croaky Mores?" Jacob sighed again. If only they could get the boy a tutor to teach him to speak properly.

Of course, that would require telling the rest of the world that they still had their son, and he was a Faunus – something Jacob and Linda had been very careful about keeping quiet. Not out of shame, but for his protection.

"Crocea Mors, Jaune. And yes, him. Long ago, when Julius fought in the Great War, he fought against a lot of different people. But, mostly… Faunus. For you see, the great war revolved around five very important and powerful people, all kings or rulers in their own rights – Irrikson of Mantle, Rathos of Vacuo, Andres of Mistral, Vander of Vale and, most prominently…"

"Lupin Nosderos, the Faunus high-Alpha, otherwise known as the Wolf of the Forest."

Jaune's eyes widened, and he reached up to touch twitching wolf ears. Jacob smiled fondly at the boy, then continued. "The five rulers – four, really, because Lupin was only chosen as high Alpha once the war began – were fighting over silly reasons, mostly over matters of opinion. Nothing important enough to start a war over – but Vale and Mantle were allies, as were Vacuo and Mistral. No one really knows how the war started, but most people agree it was the assassination of Prince Austeril of Mistral by Mantle soldiers disguised as rebels."

"Mistral declared war on Mantle, and Vale and Vacuo were dragged in with them. It was a bloody conquest spanning decades, longer than we truly know, and it came to an end seventy years ago this month."

"Why was Lupin fighting, Papa?"

Jacob sighed. "Ill get to that, patience little one." Jaune, abashed, took a sip of his cocoa and waited for his father to collect his thoughts.

"Vale and Mistral had very different ideas of how they viewed Faunus. To the royalty of those countries, the Faunus weren't even people, just animals to be conscripted – forced to fight for them." He said when Jaune's look of confusion at the word conscripted emerged. "Mistral and Vacuo thought differently, and were generally just very free-flowing when it came to freedoms of their people."

"Vale and Mantle… Not so much, I'm afraid. Vale was the only country with a full monarchy – ruled by a royal family – and Mantle had a council of Houses, all made up of people who could trace their family tree back at least twenty generations. Lots of very stuffy old people, basically."

Jaune blinked his big blue eyes owlishly. "Like the councilmen you have to meet with and I need to put on servant clothes around?"

Jacob smiled, but it was a strained one. "Yes. Like them. You see, to the people of Vale and Mantle, using their Auras was supposed to be a noble sort of calling. Only Knights or Lords or their families could learn to use their Aura, and they punished anyone who used it outside of those families."

"Now, Lupin… Most of the Faunus in the time before the great war lived in either the Isle of the Northern Forests or the Southern Mountains. These islands were relatively uncharted, and – as far as we knew – filled to the brim with hostile Grimm. One of the House lords of Mantle got it into his head to make a naval base on the Isle – this was about ten years into the war – so he could attack Vacuo easier, and maybe attempt to claim the hostile wastes as their own."

"That was when humankind first met the Faunus. As they were setting up, the commander of the naval base sent out a contingent of soldiers to clear the surrounding area of any Grimm. This turned out to be a mistake."

"Didn't they know how to fight Grimm, Papa?" Jaune asked, confusion apparent in his eyes. Jacob snorted. An eight year old boy, smarter than a fully trained naval officer. Then again, before Mantle's own revolution and subsequent rebirth into Atlas, they weren't really known for being intelligent.

"No, the navy of the time was experienced in fighting people, not Grimm. So they passed out a few dust rounds and went hunting – they assumed it would be easy, because grimm are just animals, right?"

Jaune gaped at him, and his father grinned grimly as he continued. "They got a lot of the area cleared out – of beowovles. Then the rest of the Grimm – able to feel the negative emotions of combat, and feeling the deaths of their kin – came to the base. Ursa, more Beowolves, Nevermores, Death stalkers – forests that had never been touched by humans and were full to the brim of young Grimm who had just gotten their first taste of human emotions."

"They were about to be wiped out, when they heard a howl from the woods. Fearing even more wolves were coming, the soldiers despaired – then were shocked as people came from the woods and proceeded to utterly slaughter the Grimm that were attacking them – and for good reason."

"Every single one of them was using Aura, and using it well. The officers were shocked and appalled – you just didn't use Aura if you weren't a noble or high ranking military officer. It just wasn't done in Mantle. Something about the ruling class having divine right or something like that."

"The warriors were all wearing armor made of Grimm bone, and carrying wooden weapons. They assumed them to be primitive, and thought that they were wearing animal skins as decoration."

"Of course, once the armor came off and they realized their saviours were actually part animal, they did the stupid, panicky human thing."

"They said thanks?" Jacob smirked. To be naïve…

He sighed, then looked down at his son. "No. They called their saviors demons, then proceeded to try to kill them. Granted, this was way back when people still thought that Grimm were evil animal spirits, so you can give them a smidgen of doubt. A teeny, tiny bit."

"One of the Faunus was a young wolf Faunus named Lupin, and he helped his pack defeat and force the Navy to flee back to Mantle, not even killing a single one of them. Lupin then went and told all of the other packs on the Isle to prepare of a possible war, which he was smart to do – because two years later, Mantle sent their entire Navy to 'cleanse the Island of Beasts."

Jacob patted his son on the head. "And that is how the Faunus were dragged kicking and screaming into the view of the rest of the world. Eventually, the Faunus of the Southern Mountains joined up with Lupin's army, and they proceeded to join Mistral and Vacuo. It turned out that Mantle's arrogance and superstious traditions were what cost us the war."

Jaune nodded slowly, then figited in his fathers lap. "Can I go play now, Papa?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. They really did need to get the kid a tutor, if this is how he reacted to a simple history lesson. "Yes, son. Go out and play."

"I'm sorry, for like the millionth time. Ill buy you a new pair if you want, seriously."

Yang scowled at him again, her hair spewing sparks still. Better than the raging inferno it had been, but still. "Whatever, _Vomit Boy._ " Jaune sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"It's ok, Jaune. She'll cool off in like fifteen minutes or the second something interesting happens. No big deal, really. Just don't puke on anyone else and we should be good, Vomit Boy." Ruby patted the older boy on the back, and he hung his head dejectedly.

"That's gonna be a thing now, isn't it."

"Yeah, probably. Look on the bright side though!" He raised his head up, looking at Ruby comically throwing her arms in the air, rocking back on her heels. "No more airship rides, until we have more airship rides!"

"You'll have to forgive me if that ringing encouragement doesn't fill me with joy, Ruby." Ruby just nodded cheerfully, not deterred in the slightest. Of course, then someone walking by with a war hammer (giant pink war hammers, what the hell) distracted her, and she realized she was literally surrounded by cool weapons.

The resulting sound was not unlike a ' _squee'_ and Jaune watch incredulously as she seemed to literally teleport to the war hammer user, then to a boy holding a giant mace/shotgun, then someone with a large staff, babbling questions rapidfire the whole way.

"She does that on occasion." Yang said, standing next to the dumbfounded fellow blonde. Jaune noted that Ruby was right, and the second something interesting happened Yang stopped being mad at him. "Little bit gun crazy."

Jaune pressed his lips together, drawing Crocea Mors a few inches out of its sheath before letting it slide back in with the rasp of metal on metal. "I guess a hundred year old sword that has literal songs sung about its glories doesn't really compare to a hybrid grenade launcher hammer thing."

Yang hummed thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yeah, seems about right. Well, I'm gonna go _Yang out_ with some people I see from signal. Catchya later." With that, the blonde brawler literally tore off into the distance, leaving a comically large dust trail behind her.

Jaune ran his hands through his hair(twenty third time since he got on that damn airship), groaning softly to himself. "She wasn't joking about the puns. Oh Oum, the puns." He took a deep breath, then sighed as the scents of the campus filled his overly-sensative nose.

Fresh-cut grass and ocean water was first and foremost. Then the smell of humans – body oils, sweat, pheromones – the almost powdery feel of gunpowder, dust, and weapon oil, and… something familiar.

He took another deep breath, trying to locate the scent, but instead got a nosefull of dust, leaving him coughing. He turned, attempting to locate the scent…

Just in time to watch Ruby and a girl in all white nearly cause a dust-fueled explosion. Seriously, who transports dust in suitcases like that? They make specially made transporting cases for a reason…

And who the hell needs that much dust?

He walked towards the – now incredibly icy – scene of the explosion, walking up next to a black haired girl who was holding a vial of red dust in her hand. He was planning on asking Ruby if she was alright, but was stopped when he noticed the logo on the vial, as well as the girl holding it and her expression as she glared at it.

He couldn't help a quiet growl. " _Schnee."_

He had thought he was being quiet, but somehow the girl in black heard him and turned to face him, nearly dropping the vial as she was startled. It was a tense moment at first, as he tried to figure out both how she heard him and why she reacted badly to the logo of Schnee corps.

Then he saw her bow twitch minutely, and the conclusion was rather obvious.

She stared back at him, her face carefully blank, until he simply nodded to her and held out his hand, taking the (half empty) vial of red dust from her. Feeling her eyes on his back, he turned and walked slowly to Ruby, who was in the middle of an argument with the white-haired girl.

"I'm trying to apologize, but it's your fault as well, if you would just listen to – oh, hey Jaune!" Ruby went from angry to bubbly in a minute, and Jaune snorted at the girl's mood swing. He held out the vial to the other girl, who accepted it carefully – then paled once she saw the minute crack on the bottom.

"Oh sweet Oum. A little more damage…" the yet unnamed girl muttered quietly, and he raised an eyebrow.

"This is why they make special heavy-duty kinetic negating cases for dust, you know." She groaned, carefully opening her suitcase and placing the vial in, wrapping it in a layer of bubble wrap.

"I know, I know. I had to sneak this out of the warehouse, because father wouldn't let me take any with me – apparently he doesn't want me selling it without him getting a slice of the profits or something of the sort." She sighed, wiping her skirt of nonexistent dust, then bowed slightly to him. "Thank you for returning it safely to me."

Jaune nodded. "Really, you should be thanking… her…" He turned to the black haired girl, only to find that the faunus in disguise had fled while he was distracted. "Huh. Must be shy. Anyways." He turned back to the white haired girl, watching as her eyes flickered down from his ears. He made sure to let his tail wag a bit past the back of his leg, which he usually didn't do – he tried to suppress the movement, but the damn thing had a mind of his own. Watching her eyes flicker down, catching the movement of the yellow-furred appendage, he held out a hand to her.

"Jaune, Heir of House Arc." He watched as she started a bit at the name – or maybe the fact that he wasn't dead – then smiled as she didn't hesitate to accept the proffered hand he held out. Clearly, not someone with a hatred of Faunus.

"Wiess Schnee, of Schnee dust company."

What.

He took his hand back carefully, making sure to hide the fact that he was _absofuckinglutey freaking out_ behind a careful mask of his normal smile. "Pleased to meet you, Wiess." The girl nodded, but equally as carefully as him, able to feel and see the way he literally tensed up once she said her name.

They were silent for a moment, each of them reforming the opinions they had of each other, until Ruby slapped them both on the back.

"Yay, friends!" The (still incredibly adorable what the everloving hell) raven haired girl shouted, then pouted as Wiess shook off her hand.

"No, not friends. I don't know either of you." The unspoken _nor am I sure I want to_ was left unheard by the red-cloaked menace who was beginning to babble yet again, this time about friendship and roses and cookies and sunshine.

Jaune took a deep breath, looking up at the sky.

 _Dear Oum, what is my life?_

 **So, I may have gone on a bit of a tangent for a while. If it's too confusing, I'll try to fix it up in future chapters - which, obviously, will explain more.**

 **No, I haven't abandoned my other stories. I write my stories to share ideas, and If people don't seem to like them I wont update them. its that simple. No one ever reviews them, so I dont update them. Does that make me a greedy review digger? Maybe.**

 **Chapter two will be up in probably a few hours or tomorrow morning, depending on how tired I am.**

 **Follow, Favorite and Review please! It only takes a few seconds for you and it validates hours of work for me.**

 **Cy .**

 **-Xander**


	2. Chapter 2

**I really did mean to get this out within one day of the first one. Truly. But... I - to put it in crass and uncouth terms - basically achieved vertical liftoff via both exits thanks to a rather unfortunate stomach bug I am just now getting over. The pain.**

 **I hope FF doesn't eat my line breaks this time. Enjoy. Answers at the bottom if you are confused by something.**

After what was quite possibly the most incredibly awkward sleepover ever (in which he learned that his giant, adult-sized footie PJ's were awesome and he still didn't care what anyone else thought), followed by the most expansive breakfast ever, he and the rest of the trainees were split up into groups of 20. His group was made up of Yang, Ruby, Wiess, the black haired girl, the pencil-thin girl who toted a ridiculously huge(pink) hammer, her boyfriend/partner/victim, and Pyrrha fucking Nikos(who he totally did not fanboy over. Shut up), and a bunch of other people he didn't know.

Save Cardin, who was a giant ass who's ass he hoped to be able to beat in soon. Faunus hater, bully, overconfident to the extreme with no real basis or skill, if his observations were any clue. Very vocal about his dislike of Faunus as well.

They led them all out to these weird platform circle thingies that everyone seemed all nonchalant about, so he assumed it was something you learned about in hunter school. Which he really didn't get to learn much about because he didn't freaking go.

The whole 'Jaune Arc is dead and the Arc family didn't have any other kids' bit kinda shot him in the foot when it came to formal education, or basically anything that requires you to have documented paperwork of your existence.

Which, beyond a birth and death certificate, he didn't have.

Oh, sure, his parents worked out a plan to forge the whole nine yards – school transcripts, hospital records, even fake records for him needing braces – and Ozpin either believed it or didn't care, as he let him into the school. His father throwing around his considerable political clout was probably a bonus.

Something about there being an Arc wing added to the school library.

So the lack of formal education was kind of a hurdle he needed to overcome. Not that he didn't receive any informal training – fake dead or not, his parents still trained their heir and only child – and he would like to think he knew his way around the pointy end of his stick.

Plus the whole 'Natural Aura User From Birth' thing was a big plus.

So they went and stood on the weird circle things, and Jaune faked knowing what the hell was going on, as no one else seemed to be the slightest bit concerned. He ended up standing in between Ruby and Wiess. Which was good, because if someone didn't separate the two they would murder each other. And bad, because Wiess was giving him the cold shoulder and an even colder glare.

Apparently she either forgot that she hated Faunus, or his pajamas had made her upset. Which was foolish, everyone liked footy pajamas.

He snapped back to reality when he realized that Ozpin was wrapping up what little speech he was making.

" – temple at the end of the forest and guard it from all assailants. Good luck."

He turned to Ruby, panicked. "Erm. I zoned out, what did he say?" Ruby didn't even miss a beat or stop smiling as she turned to him.

"Land carefully, first person you meet is partner, go to center, get item, go to temple, defend temple, kill things, don't die."

He nodded. "Thanks." Apparently, she was used to the whole 'people zoning out and needing instruction immediately' thing.

Of course, then the weird circles on the ground started _launching people into the sky at upwards of sixty miles an hour_ and he had three seconds to set his feet and brace for launch and simultaneously ask himself what the hell was wrong with these people before he, too, was flung into the sky like a bullet.

Flying – or falling, as it were – was still something he was uncomfortable with. But then again, he didn't have wings, so he thought he was in the clear on that one. On the upside, he was falling of his own violation and not in a giant balloon.

He was skimming above the treetops and only just now beginning to slow down when his senses alerted him to something flying at him, fast. He turned and in one smooth motion located, deflected and returned the projectile at the angle its approach dictated its owner would be at.

Only then did he realize that Pyrrha had just thrown her spear at him, and it was probably an effort to help him land easier or maybe even pin him to a tree, and then secure a partnership.

Whoops.

He heard the sound of leaves whipping in the wind just under him and then realized that hey, he had bigger issues to worry about right now.

He looked back in front of him just in time to slam, stomach first, into a tree branch that stuck up the smallest bit above the canopy. His momentum carried him comically in a circle around the branch, ending with him falling slowly downwards. He proceeded to then crash through several dozen branches before landing on the forest floor on his head.

Sitting there for several minutes, he tried to force air back into his winded lungs, slowly catching his breath and feeling his aura heal what scrapes and cuts he had gotten. When he got his breath back, he stood up slowly and brushed off his pants, sighing. "I'm really glad no one saw that."

About three quarters of a kilometer away, Ozpin and Glinda were showing different forms of amusement. As in, Glinda was completely blowing her stern expression out of the water and nearly dying laughing, and Ozpin was drinking his tea with a smirk.

Not a lot of emotional range on the headmaster, to be honest.

Once his Aura had completely healed him, Jaune finished brushing off his clothes and armor and rested his hand on the hilt of Crocea Mors, breathing in through his nose deeply. Instantly he was assaulted with many scents – the smell of soil, insect pheromones, animals – nothing nearby, his crash must have scared anything off – leftover human scents, and, most telling, Grimm.

Grimm didn't have a particular scent, to be honest. Not one you could use to detect where they are, what type of Grimm, how many or how long ago they were in the area. You could smell if there were Grimm nearby. The smell didn't fade, didn't grow, didn't carry on the wind normally and didn't increase for each nearby Grimm.

You could tell if there were Grimm in the area, and that was it.

Grimm smelled like rotting plants and fear. It wasn't a pleasant smell. Then again, nothing about Grimm could be defined as pleasant.

Speaking of Grimm…

A low growl was the only sound the Beowulf made as it leaped from the undergrowth, claws extended a good six or seven inches, fangs drooling black ichor.

A flash of silver, a rasp of titanium-silver alloy on steel, the soft _srrrip_ of heavily sharpened metal slashing through Grimm flesh was the only sounds made as the Crocea Mors was drawn and used within a fraction of a second.

The Beowulf never hit the ground, its body shattering into dust near instantly.

Jaune was very proud of Crocea Mors – or what it had become, at least. It was still made of the same material, actually, it was still made of the original sword. Just… with a few things added.

Crocea Mors was no longer one blade. It was hundreds. Twelve hundred and fifty two, to be exact. Each blade ranged from three centimeters long and five millimeters wide to the largest center three, which were the full length of the sword – a full meter – and a third as wide as that. They were all hexagonal, sharper than sin and razor-thin. Held together by some of the most powerful and adaptable magnets known to man, each blade was capable of splitting off from the whole or moving itself into any position he willed it to. He controlled it with his Aura, imbuing each blade with it to move as he wanted.

There was a slow _shi-shi-shink_ sound as the sword… retracted into itself, reverting to its normal sword appearance it had always had. Except, with the sword actually being over a thousand different blades, it looked… scaled, for lack of a better word. When retracted, each blade slotted into place, fitting perfectly back into the exact dimensions of the original sword.

Jaune had made it himself, with some assistance from his parents. The Aura to electromagnetic field converter had been a tough thing to make, but definitely worth it in the end.

With a quick, embellishing flick of his blade – an old habit his teacher had given him, the traditional way samurai flicked blood off their blades – the sword was slotted back into his sheath. Which, other than storing and passively refilling the sword with Aura, was untouched.

There was another soft growl from behind him. Then a louder one from in front, then more from either sides. Soon, nearly two dozen Grimm had exited the undergrowth they had been hiding in, and surrounded him with white bone and red eyes.

"So. Looks like the rest of the pack was waiting."

The wolves visibly tensed at his words, the growling coming to a stop. For a moment, the small clearing he was in was nearly silent, save his own breath and pounding hearbeat.

He slid the first inch of Crocea Mors out of its sheath, the rasp louder than thunder in the clearing.

"Well. Let's go, shall we?"

He didn't give the wolves the chance to attack, whipping his weapon out of its sheath faster than they could react. The blade extended and narrowed, forming into a whip-like construct several meters long and barely an inch thin. The blades jutted out of whip at sharp angles, giving the whole thing a jagged, scaly appearance. The three main blades were all at the tip of the whip, forming a solid, heavy counter-weight and capping off the blade with a meter of razor thin but deadly metal.

The whip sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, slicing through three Beowolves on the first stroke. The rest of the wolves chose then to attack, and Jaune pumped Aura into his legs before exploding into the air backwards, landing on a tree. He used his advantage in reach to make three quick swipes, taking out a wolf each before jumping back up to a higher branch to dodge a lunge from a larger wolf.

The wolf pressed its attack, lunging into his guard, and Jaune pulled Crocea Mors back into sword – state, before slashing out twice quickly and beheading his attack. He used the blade to block two more swipes of wolf claws and a lunge from a second wolf, before jumping straight up with enough force to snap the branch he was on in half.

One remarkable thing about Beowolves – they could climb trees pretty well. Life in the forest had adapted them to prey that tried for an advantage in height.

Jaune was forced to slash at a wolf that lunged off of the tree he had been in, knocking it away but not killing it as he took three scores on his armor in return.

Landing on another branch, he concentrated for a moment before swinging his sword in a furious arc, letting go of the magnetism that held it together, then changing the polarity of half of the blades.

There was a rapid 'Sk-chink' repeated several times as half of the blades on his sword flew out from the main mass as if shot from a cannon – which, in all honesty, was kind of accurate. A magnetic cannon that fired about seven hundred blades in a single shot, but still a cannon.

The blades flew in a glittering arc, most missing but some impacting in their targets. About a half dozen wolves found themselves becoming swiss cheese as tens of his blades sank into their skin at nearly supersonic speeds, smashing straight through them and into the wolves below them, before slamming deep into the loose forest floor below, some even passing through trees.

Jaune grinned as the pack paused, and he jumped down to the ground, leaving the wolves between him and the blades that were scattered on the floor. With that attack he had taken out a solid dozen or so of them, and at this point he had cut the size of the pack in almost half.

Beowolves were usually only great in number but remarkably weak, sacrificing armor and power for speed. As such, if you could stay mobile, they were incredibly easy to take out one by one.

They were also, as they had just found out, incredibly weak to area of effect attacks.

He let the wolves gather up in front of him, firing a few blades at those that tried to flank him. Not enough to kill, but enough to wound and keep the mass of the pack between him and most of his weapon. At this point, he was holding a jagged half-hand length of metal, most of his weapon scattered on the forest floor.

Of course, then he expended the rest of the Aura that was left in the blade by calling the hundreds of shards back to him.

The effect was instantaneous – there was the sharp whistle of steel, and then over eight hundred razors shot through the air towards him – and the wolves between him and the blades, moving at twice the speed they had been before due to the speed at which he called them back.

The wide arc he had thrown them in meant that the blades returning to him encompassed the entire pack, tearing through them like paper in a blender.

Jaune was sent skidding back a solid dozen feet from the force of eight-hundred ish projectiles slamming into the hilt of his sword at the speed of a bullet, but generous Aura enforcement and the fact he reversed the polarity of some of the blades slowed them down before they landed, meaning an impact that could have easily torn his arm off instead left him with a bruise that his Aura would heal in seconds.

Unfortuneatly, Crocea Mors was now almost completely drained of Aura, so he was forced to slide it back into the sheath to recharge.

He grinned, then turned to the audience he had acquired – the black-hair Faunus from yesterday, who had arrived silently but whose scent he had registered during the fight.

"Thought I heard the sound of a jaw dropping."

The black haired girl closed her mouth, swallowing. Orginally, Blake had intended on helping the goofy but likeable boy to deal with the pack, but had stopped once she realized how little help she needed.

To be truthful, she didn't know if she could kill off an entire pack alone like that. At least, not that quickly, and not without some generous sneaking around and leading the Beowolves on false trails.

"That was… an impressive display of weaponry."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I put a lot of work into it though. It's a decent mid-short range weapon, but long range is… well. If the blades go any more than twenty meters I can't pull them back anymore, and using them too much without recharging Aura results in a long hunt for the missing bits."

Plus the whole 'any amount of electricity makes the blade fall apart and become unusable until I can restabilize it' thing. But not much need to talk about that right now.

She raised an eyebrow slowly, before letting out a puff of air and extending her hand. "Blake Belladonna."

Jaune took her hand and shook it. "Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you… partner."

No reaction to his family name, so either she didn't care or didn't know. He released her hand and there was a moment of awkward silence.

Then the wind shifted, and he got a facefull of that familiar scent he had smelled yesterday, and he remembered where he had found it before.

 _Fuck._

Blake was asking something about directions, but Jaune was more interested in the fact that he had _just paired up with the second in command of the White Fang._

"… probably to the north of here, if my sense of direction is right."

Jaune started, looking back to her. "yeah. North. Good, great. Let's go."

Blake raised an eyebrow – she did a lot of that, it seemed – then shrugged and turned her back to him before leaping up to a tree branch and gracefully jumping from tree to tree. Jaune followed suit, his mind in turmoil.

\V/

Jaune was eleven years old when he first encountered the White Fang. He was in his normal outfit – jeans and a dull orange hoody – while walking home from school, taking the long route on the main street. Partially because he had some money for a double scoop of Ice Dust Cream, and partially because, well.

The kids at school may not bother him anymore – for a reason Gerreth's jaw knew very well - but staying in full view of the public while in the main city was preferable. Some of the shortcuts and back alleys were a little too hidden, and a little too occupied.

He was munching on two absolutely fantastic scoops of Double Fudge Peanutbutter Fudge Chocolate Smash when he turned the corner onto Main and was met with a wall of people blocking the view to the street. Puzzled, he tried to peer over the wall of people, but pouted when he realized – not for the first time – he was too short.

There was a chant or something being repeated over and over by many people, but he couldn't tell what it was they were saying – the wall of people in front of him effectively blocked off the noise and their muttering messed with it as well.

He could feel the signature headache he got whenever there was too much noise in one place coming on. He growled slightly under his breath, then rushed forward when a couple of people on the side of the road walked away, muttering to themselves.

He didn't catch their glares, too curious was he on seeing what the attention was about.

Jaune pushed forward and squeezed in between the legs of the taller folk – downsides of being small – ignoring the usual shocked exclaimations and kick aimed at him. And then, once he reached the front of the crowd…

He came face to face with the White Fang for the first, but not the last time.

They were about fifty meters down the road from him, and heading towards his location at a stead march. Faunus of all different kinds and sizes – dog, cat, bird, deer, ox, lion, mouse… his nose registered hundreds of different Faunus scents. Faunus tended to smell different – not like a mix of human and animal, but usually human with animal tones.

They were all chanting, some of them carrying signs that said things like 'Rights for all' or 'Looks are our only difference.' At the lead of the group were two people that stood out – a girl that couldn't be any older than him, with thick black hair and cat ears, and a tall, redheaded teen with bull horns.

"Are we the monsters?" The bull Faunus said. It wasn't a shout or a yell, but it still carried across the street with the force of one.

The rest of the Faunus screamed back. "No, we are the Victims!"

"Are we the problem?"

"No, we are the solution!"

Again, but harsher this time, he shouted. "Who are the monsters?"

There was no reply to that question, but glares of the Faunus as they looked out at the crowd were telling enough.

He stood, enraptured, as they walked to and past him. The redheaded boy – no, man, there could be no mistaking the look in his eye for a childish one - caught his eye, and nodded slowly, jerking his head to the side, as if to say 'jump on in.'

Of course, that was when the man next to him threw the first rock.

With a cry of 'Freak' the chunk of stone sailed through the air, hitting the red haired man in the side of the head. He simply kept walking.

As if this were a call to arms, objects and slurs flew through the air, each impacting with force but being ignored.

Jaune just watched, and felt like a coward as his chance to join in the march passed him by. He stood there for a while, mostly unnoticed save a few unkind words that were easily ignored. He was used to it at this point.

The back end of the march approached, and Jaune sank into the crowd, ashamed at himself. He turned to leave for home as objects soared overhead.

Not before he kicked the rock-thrower in the shin, though.

And when he got home, tears on his face and hands bunched so hard his nails drew blood, he looked his father in the eye and said "I want to join the White Fang."

\V/

 _Odds are she either quit or is a plant. I can't see a White Fang member hiding their Faunus heritage – some form of cat, if I remember – especially not for four years or more. Last I saw, she was in that raid on the Schnee fund delivery…_

Blake, oblivious to his inner turmoil, bounced from tree branch to tree branch with all the nimble grace her heritage implied. Jaune, less nimble than she, ran on the forest floor under her. Even in his introspection, he made sure to keep an eye out for Grimm, which –

"Ursa at seven thirty." He said, in a normal tone of voice. Blake just nodded once, turning to spot the approaching threat with ease and jumping down to land next to him. "Be careful, it sounds too small to be fully grown, which means the mother must be nearby."

Blake looked at him, her eyes darting up to his ears, then flicking back down to where she could hear something large crashing through the underbrush. "You run interference, Ill try to get up and behind it?" She muttered softly, and Jaune just nodded, pulling Crocea Mors out and letting the sheath turn into its shield form. He extended the sword so it resembled more of a lance, coming to a sharp, narrow point and widening down to his hand.

Blake muttered something about 'stupidly expensive toys' before fading into the underbrush – literally. Jaune was watching her out of the corner of his eye but still couldn't see the point where she left his view.

The young Ursa – if you can call something that's only five meters instead of six young – rushed through the undergrowth, bursting into view right in front of him. He sidestepped the clumsy rush, stabbing at it's shoulder, attempting to pierce a gap in the armor. The blow glanced off of white bone, however, and Jaune was forced to jump back again when it tried to backhand him with a paw that probably weighed more than he did.

He jabbed forward with the lance again, this time scoring a hit on its eye, causing the Ursa to rear back and roar. He took the opportunity to stab out at its unguarded neck, but Blake beat him to the punch, dashing in at incredible speeds and decapitating it cleanly. She landed in a crouch, and the bear fell to the ground, headless and forming into dust.

Jaune nodded to her, then tensed up. "Problem. Either they started hunting in packs, or we just got really unlucky." Black scowled, upset at her inability to use her ears effectively, but nodded anyways.

"Positions and ETA?"

"One at 7 – probably the mother – one at 4 and one at 12. ETA is right now."

She shot him a droll look, then jumped up, flipping over an adult Ursa who was charging at her. Jaune was forced to sprint after her, as the other two – the pissed mother included – attempted to follow him. He slid under the legs of the Ursa who Blake had just avoided, as it had stood up on its hind legs to swipe at the airborne cat Faunus.

Skidding under its legs and immediately standing up and running, he didn't bother to look over his shoulder, already knowing that all three were hot on his tail. Jumping up into the trees was not an option – the trees were significantly taller here, as they were approaching the center of the forest. The trees were all older, and as such the branches were much higher off the ground. Blake's cat heritage probably gave her increased leg strength or something of the sort.

There were several shots from the trees above him, and he looked up to note that Blake was taking shots at the Ursa from above. The mother bear of the youngling they had just killed growled up at her, and split off from the other two when she took a different direction.

That left him with two. Yippee.

These two Ursa had much more defined armor and were easily half as big as the younger one they had killed easily. Fully grown Grimm, in addition to size and better armor, also tended to be smarter…

As was shown when one of the bears split off from the other one, moving to his left and slightly behind. So either they were attempting to herd Jaune to the right – which was never a good thing – or they were making sure he couldn't run to where Blake was. Also not a good thing.

He wasn't going to slow down anytime soon – he still had a solid three fourths of his Aura left, plus about half as much of that stored in his sheath/shield. Granted, he couldn't pull that into his body, but he could probably empty his sword of Aura fully another two times without draining himself of any Aura.

He noted with incredulity that the bear that had split off to his left was actually starting to pick up speed, as was the one behind him. Humans – even ones with Aura – couldn't really outrun two tonne beasts of solid muscle.

Thinking fast, he knew he needed to do something to either injure or kill one of them so he could at least out run half of his opponents. _God, this is gonna hurt if it fails…_

Jaune shifted his feet, skidding on the ground, then turned to face the bear that was attacking him. It was about fifty feet away that this point. The other bear, seeing he had stopped, turned and ran straight for him as well.

Forty feet away from one, fifty feet from the other. The one right in front of him picked up speed, rapidly eating up distance.

Twenty, fifteen, ten, five… Now!

He dropped to the ground, then shifted Crocea Mors back into a lance while slamming the hilt into the ground. The Ursa was running to fast to stop at that point, and instead of a tasty meal found itself getting four meters of titanium-silver alloy to the chest, ramming into it at top speed.

Needless to say, the bear wasn't much longer for the world.

Jaune was force to jump and abandon his weapon, lest he be crushed by the falling body of the bear. He heard a mighty roar, and turned just in time to see the second bear raising its paw to smash across him. Raising his shield, he just barely managed to catch the brunt of the attack.

One hundred twenty kilos of mostly trained teenage Faunus versus nearly three tonnes of feral, negative-emotion fueled Grimm does not a fair match make.

Jaune was hit with the force of a truck at seventy-plus kilometers an hour, focused into a single arm and smashing into an area about the size of a trash can lid.

Needless to say, he was sent soaring into the tree line at a speed comparable to a ball hit by a baseball player – straight into a tree. Several things let loose a loud crack at the impact.

It wasn't the tree.

 _Three broken ribs, shield arm, left leg, right ankle sprained or fractured, possible lung puncture…_ his mind catalogued the injuries, making sure his Aura focused on healing them first as he carefully brought himself to his feet, favoring his right leg. The Ursa approached at a slow lope, still much faster than he could cripple-walk but enough to at least give him a chance at healing his leg at the very least.

There was a sickening snap as his leg popped itself back into place, and he winced as it did so. Aura healing was amazing and incredibly useful, but the fact that it did nothing to numb pain receptors was honestly his biggest hatred of it.

His leg – now a searing mess of agony, but functional – was capable of supporting a light jog, which was all he could sustain was his Aura attempted to pop his ribs back into place. He managed to at least put a tree between him and the Ursa, which was still a solid ten meters away and approaching slowly.

Three gunshots rang out from behind him, and he let out a sigh of relief as Blake landed beside him, assessing his injuries with a careful eye.

"That arm looks like –"

Snap.

She shuddered, looking away as his bent shield arm popped back into place, tendons rearranging themselves back to the bone and muscle healing in an instant. Jaune shuddered.

"…Never mind. I'll run distraction till you can get healed – this one looks like it's on the urge of hitting Ursa Major, and I don't think I have the firepower to pierce a vital spot without assistance."

Now that she mentioned it, the bear did seem to have the telltale spikes on its back just beginning to emerge from it's fur that showed it was close to become an Ursa major. Huh.

"Damn. Should have made that one a priority. No wonder it was faster than I expected."

Blake let out a subtle 'tsk' sound under her breath, then jumped out from behind the tree and fired more shots at the Ursa, running away from Jaune's position.

He held his breath for a moment, almost able to hear the sound of the bear thinking. Go for the easier and injured prey it knew was behind the tree, or the annoying one that was attacking it?

It's decision seemed to be made when Blake managed to fire a shot dangerously close to the exposed eye hole in the armor in its mask, chipping off a cloud of bone dust. It roared, turning much faster than its speed would have one think, rushing his partner and following her out of the clearing.

Jaune stood unsteadily on his feet, grimacing as he flexed the too-familiar feeling of newly healed muscle in his arm and leg, trying to loosen it out somewhat. Despite the whole 'trained warrior and killer' thing, as well as 'superhuman Aura powers,' cramps were a real issue.

He walked forward slowly, bending to pick up Crocea Mors, which shifted back into sword shape as he grabbed it. Slamming it back into its sheath, he walked at a slow lope to where he could hear Blake still fighting the bear.

 _Round Two, fucker. Lets go._

 **\V/**

 **Sorry for the piss-poor end point – it was getting kinda long and I need to get to sleep soon. Chap 3 SHOULD be out tomorrow afternoon.**

 **Some questions I know I'll get and want to answer now –**

 **Yes, some Faunus will be getting some very kinda bullshit upgrades. I realize that Faunus in the original story are just another representation of rascim and how a different society would deal with it, but in this story I'm going to be giving them** ** _reasons_** **to hate Faunus, beyond simply them looking different.**

 **Does Jaune's weapon seem incredibly overpowered? Not really, in my eyes. It is, in a word, versatile. He controls several hundred razor-like blades and can contort it into a variety of different shapes via Aura-controlled shifts in magnetism, allowing him to make each blade shift as he wills them to. Seems strong and incredibly overpowered, yes?**

 **Several weaknesses though –**

 **Any sort – and I mean any sort – of electrical charge that is pushed through the weapon will disable it completely for several minutes, leaving him with a pile of unresponsive blades until he can put Aura into it.**

 **Pyrrha has a semblance, no? That's kind of a sore point**

 **He has absolutely no long range capablilites – twenty meters is the absolute farthest, and that's being generous. Usually he will only keep it at about fifteen meters, or ~45 feet. He has no way to use Dust(as of right now) to help him fight monsters, and no way to attack anything out of his range without losing portions of his weapon.**

 **It runs of off Aura, which is a finite resource. Once he runs out of Aura, it literally ceases to work. Every other weapon will work fine even if it runs out of ammo as a Melee weapon. His becomes – once again – a pile of useless weaponry.**

 **If he lets go of the hilt of the sword, it stops responding to him and keeps the last shape it assumed.**

 **In short, his weapon is much like Wiesses – Very versatile for lots of situations, but requires a steady, thoughtful mind and has its own very debilitating weaknesses.**

 **And last but not least, No, I don't know metric by heart. I'm trying to use it, but if I get something wrong please let me know.**

 **And also – 15 reviews, 75 faves and 101 follows for one chapter and three days?**

 **I really love you guys sometimes.**

 **Till (hopefully) tomorrow,**

 **Xander**


	3. Chapter 3

Giant, nearly-evolving, pissed-beyond belief Usra?

 _Check._ Jaune slid down on his back, sliding on the dirt and loam on his shield, narrowly dodging a massive paw that could easily take his head off.

Finding out that they led it to a spot where at least three students and several dozen Grimm had died fighting, sometime within the last two years?

 _Check._ Jaune grimaced, jumping out of the slide and onto his feet, sending three hundred or so blades flying at the exposed flank of the bear, scoring a massive rend on its back… which promptly began to mesh together in a gross display of exactly how fueled by negative emotions Grimm were.

Realizing that Blake _didn't kill the angry mother bear_ and that it's negative emotions, combined with the literal killing field they were fighting in, were fueling _both of the fucking bears to evolve to Major?_

 _Fucking priceless._

"You know, a little –" He raised Crocea Mors up, smashing it into the paw to deflect it off to the side, rather than straight down on him as it would have been. The blow sent him skidding back a few feet, but he was otherwise unharmed. "-Warning that, hey, we have another bear closing in on our position would be nice next time."

"I assumed you would have known it was coming, mister 'Look at my special ears.'" Blake replied in the dry sense of humor he was coming to know. When she bothered to respond, that was.

"Yeah, well, not all of us can – _To your left –_ rock the bow like you can." He rammed the extended lance form into the left rear joint of the bear, hearing it scrape against bone. He pulled it back hurriedly, but left a few blades in there to slow the healing.

Which it was doing. Grimm weren't usually known for their regeneration skills, but – fun fact – if you ever manage to fight one whilst it absorbs enough negative emotions to evolve, it turns out that they start healing remarkably fast. So fast, in fact, that _slicing their fucking arms off is a minor discomfort._

He really did have the worst luck.

"Alright. Focus on this one here for a moment – I'm about to cripple the left side."

The bear was mostly healed now, ignore the rest of the injury as it loped towards them. The other one – the one they had been calling mommy – was much less… reserved.

Grimm, while still being beasts of pure negative emotions and a foul mix of Aura, were still animal in nature. Which meant that they acted much as animals did – instinctively.

And it turns out, killing the young of a mother bear is probably the easiest way to piss it off.

She was angry, no doubt. It made her predicatable, slower, easier to confuse and dodge. But also furious – more likely to shrug off injuries, breach defenses, do stupid things that worked surprisingly well –

Like charging through his lance, letting it bury itself up to her shoulder and letting him slice her whole right forearm off in exchange for pounding him in the shoulder.

His right side had just finished recovering from it, and her arm was already half-way regrown. It was a thin, gangly approximation of the original arm at this point, but she could at least limp on it.

She was a non-entity at this point, at least until the bony, skeletal arm grew muscle and flesh and she could run again.

At his shout, Blake disengaged from the mother Ursa – Ursa Major? Minor? Who cared at this point – landing beside him in a crouch.

"I've got about fifty blades in the left side flank, healed up in there. On three I'll try to pull the leg off. See if you can't hit the underside, I'll try to topple it?"

She nodded, once, then jumped over to the right side of the bear, firing a few shots at the leg of the mother as she did so. Two of the connected with the still-growing limb – which was now starting to grow tendons on the bone – shattering the forearm and sending the bear stumbling to the ground.

Jaune grimaced, bracing himself, and then _yanked_ the blades out of the leg of the other Ursa.

For a moment, nothing visibly happened, but then there was a ear-rending tearing sound as flesh was ripped asunder, tens of glittering silver blades flying to connect themselves to his blade.

There was a sick, wince-garnering slopping sound as ichor spurted from the wound, then the leg fell off and hit the ground with a thud.

The Ursa, mid-stride, found itself putting weight where there was no support, and stumbled as its foreleg was force to bear the brunt of its weight. There was a low, panicked roar, and then it hit the ground with a thud that shook the trees.

Blake was on it in a flash, blade slicing three times in an instant, tearing a rend up its underside that it couldn't hope to recover from.

The Ursa began to fade instantly, and they looked at each other in relief.

Of course, that was the point in which their shitty luck became shittier.

The number one most important thing to remember about fighting Grimm is that the last Grimm is always the deadliest. The longer you fight Grimm, the more negative emotions you feel, the more pain is experienced, the stronger Grimm become and the harder the final one is to kill.

So when they turned to fight the crippled and hopefully easy mother Ursa, they instead were met with a bear easily twice the size of the last one, coated in a glowing red Aura. It's armor was easily twice as thick, it's back was covered in spikes, and it's eyes glowed with a sinister, intelligent malevolence.

There is a very large difference between an Ursa and an Ursa Major. Much like the difference between any young and old Grimm, or any Grimm that has an evolving point.

Young Grimm are not but animals. They are dangerous, yes, but not so much that any mildly experienced Hunter can deal with them.

Blake was the former second in command of the White Fang, an accomplished assassin, and more skilled than any of her comrades could have ever hoped to be. She was accepted into Beacon despite having no prior hunting experience, and had trained with Adam Taurus of the white fang since she was eleven.

Jaune was the heir to the Arc House, trained by two parents that had fought in wars and had felled more Grimm than Jaune had ever even seen, much less faught against. He carried a weapon that was renown in battle before Vale's best weaponsmith had gotten his hands on it, a shield that was capable of blocking a blow from the angriest of Ursa without denting, and personally trained by a man known for his skill in combat across all four countries.

They were, by the best definition, mildly experienced Hunters.

Ursa Major are not meant to be fought alone, especially not by students in training. They are faster, smarter, and exponentially more dangerous than their smaller counterparts.

The ursine beast proved this by rushing forward faster than they could get ready for and batting them both into different sides of the forest.

Jaune blocked the brunt of the blow with his shield, feeling his shield arm shatter yet again. His Aura – a little less than half full at this point, soon to be down to a quarter once Crocea Mors was refilled and his arm was healed.

Make that his arm and back, once he slammed into the tree.

 _This is really becoming a reoccurring theme, isn't it._

Blake had no such luck. She was relatively more full on Aura, as her weapon didn't demand constant Aura unlike Jaune's. As such, she could heal from wounds more readily.

She also didn't have a shield.

The claws rent her arm to the bone, the backhand sending her soaring up. Femur and Thigh bone broke, wrist snapped, cartilage bent and shattered.

It was, without a doubt, the worst injury she had ever received.

The pain was blinding and immobilizing. For a moment, her world was a flash of white, and she was pretty sure she went unconscious.

She coughed, and felt slightly detatched as she saw blood. The Ursa Major, deciding she was weakest, turned and walked towards her. Somehow, she couldn't really find the time to worry about that.

 _Huh. I'm in shock._

There was a the sound of rapid fire weaponry, and the Ursa roared again.

" _Yang_ in there, Blakey-poo. One heroic rescue coming up."

"Dear Oum. This really is a thing with you, isn't it." Wiess muttered, and the blonde smirked, coming to land between Blake and the bear.

Blake, once she came to the conclusion that she was probably not going to die, proceeded to pass out.

\V/

One handily defeated Ursa Major later – On a single target, Wiess's incredible amounts of dust really were unfair, plus the whole 'Yang punching it's head clean off' thing – The four Hunters were sitting to let their Aura recover and rest from their injuries.

Wiess was scratching a map of the forest and their objectives in the dirt, while Jaune, Yang and Blake tore into their rations with reckless abandon.

Using high quantities of Aura tends to increase your metabolism nearly threefold. Which meant that Blake, thin and lithe as she was, was chowing on a box of salmon jerky like a bear getting ready for hibernation and at a rate that would make champion speed-eaters jealous.

"Alright." Wiess stood up, clapping her hands together. "We're about three, maybe four miles away from the first temple, and that temple is a solid five away from the one we need to defend."

They all nodded. Jaune was perfectly content to let someone that had a better head for tactics deal with the planning. He was more comfortable with the plan 'run in and hit everything till it dies' than he really should have been. Blake was content to not have to talk, and Yang just wanted to punch shit.

So letting Wiess hold the metaphorical wheel was good for now.

They set off at a blistering – read, inhumanly fast – pace and made the three mile run through the woods in a little under a half hour.

Aura really was bullshit like that.

Upon reaching the strange semi-circle ruin, they were greeted with two other pairs – Ruby and Pyrrha, and Ren and Nora – whose names he had learned after Nora's particularly… enthusiastic introduction last night.

Ruby was running her hands over a golden bishop, while Ren and Nora had a black knight in their hands – both of their hands, as Nora had just almost dropped it and they were doing some weird hot-potato thing to keep it from hitting the ground.

Wiess and Yang, after careful deliberation, picked out a golden rook.

"You got any preference?" Jaune asked under his breath, but Blake just shrugged languidly and walked into the ring. There were only a few pieces left at this point, but at least one of every piece was still represented.

Jaune watched as Blake stalked – for there really was no other way to describe how she moved, all muscle bunched up under taunt skin, like a panther on the prowl – then looked at the pieces.

For a moment, he stared at one of the pieces, then snorted softly and grabbed it. _Hey, what the hell._

Blake glanced down at the golden pawn in his hands, then looked up at him questioningly.

"For the best reasons." He replied, an easy grin on his face. "Ironic reasons."

\V/

The first and only meeting of the White Fang Jaune attended was held two months after the failed march down the main street of Vale City.

The building the meeting was taking place in was an old, abandoned amphitheater in the bad part of town. At one point, it was probably someone's attempt to bring joy to a relatively decent part of the neighborhood, back when Vale City hadn't been as big.

It said some sad things about the state of the city that this was the only place the Faunus could gather.

Jaune's father – driving a nondescript tan sedan Jaune didn't know that they owned – pulled up in front of the building. Someone, in an attempt to be either uplifting or funny, had taken the letters that told what was playing and arranged them to spell "Now Showing – Our Liberation."

It was an attempt, at least.

Jacob paused outside of the building, biting his lip as he thought. Jaune sat in the backseat, and one of the workers that his family employed – a large ox Faunus who worked construction, named Bartus, or Bar as he went by.

"They're good people, Bartus?" He asked after a few minutes, looking at the large man, who was hunched over somewhat comically in the car.

Bar's voice was a low rumble. "Most of them, yes. But it's a group of oppressed people. Lotsa angry ones, mister Arc. Most of em' are good though. None would hurt a Faunus, 'specially not a pup."

It went unspoken that humans wouldn't be held so favorably.

Bartus and his wife Janice, a lovely sheep Faunus who worked as an accountant in Arc's family. The couple played the role of Jaune's parents when he needed to go to the doctors for regular checkups, or when his parents were called into school. They were good people, and immensely appreciative of the Arc family for providing them jobs free of pay cuts and discrimination.

Jacob found it incredibly depressing that he was being thanked for being an average employer.

Jacob tapped his fingers on the wheel, then turned back to face his son over the seat of the chair. "You be good, ok? Stick close to Bartus and make sure to use the number in your scroll if you get in trouble." Jaune nodded, looking up at his father with 'puppy eyes' as Jacob called them.

Jacob and Jaune had each gotten specific, one-purpose communications scrolls for the night. The scrolls only had two numbers programmed in them – Jaune had his fathers, and vice versa. The other number was Bartus's.

Bar opened the door slowly, heaving his bulk out of the car. Jaune opened his door as well and stepped out quietly, looking up the stairs to the theatre with worry. Dozens – hundreds – of Faunus were walking up the stairs.

"-Still can't appreciate how understanding you are, Mister Arc. Not many people would lemme keep my job if they found out." Bart was mumbling in his low voice, like two incredibly humble boulders rumbling together.

Jacob just sighed. "I support you in everything you do, Bartus, so long as no one gets hurt. Right now, this is all peaceful and I agree with what they want wholeheartedly." He looked up at the theatre and grimaced. "But that's exactly how the last revolution started."

Bartus and Jaune walked up the stairs, getting many glances from people as he walked up. Some adults gave Jaune a smile, but the boy hid behind Bar shyly, unused to positive attention.

When they entered the lobby, they could see clear to the stage below – someone had knocked out the wall that separated the lobby and the seats ahead. A blue-haired deer Faunus was sitting at the ticket booth, a pad of paper on a clipboard in his hands.

"Hey, Bar. Nice seeing you again." The man said with a smile, looking up at the huge man. He flipped through the papers, then checked off a small box next to Bartus' name.

"Got m' boy here this time, Eric. Decided he wanted to come, see what it's 'bout." Bartus said, guesturing with a beefy hand to the blonde next to him.

"Ah, nice lookin' kid, Bar. Don't see any horns on him, though." Eric said, stroking his chin.

"He's 'dopted, on my sis's side." Bartus said, and Eric winced.

"Sorry about that, kid. You got a name?" He said, flipping to the last page of his papers, where new names were written down.

"J-Jaune." He said, softly.

"Jaune, eh? Nice meeting you. Let me guess…" He said, taking in Jaune's ears, the slightly narrowed face, the yellow-furred tail swinging nervously behind him. "Canine, obviously. Not dog, ears are a little too pointed. Fox?"

"Wolf." Jaune said, stubbornly. Eric blinked in surprise. Jaune pulled his lips back, showing his enlongated canines.

"Huh. Can't say I've ever seen a wolf Faunus before." He marked it down in his book, then nodded to him. "Well, Mr. Jaune-the-Wolf-Faunus, welcome to you're first meeting. Hopefully first of many. Just remember…"

Bartus and a couple of the other people that had been listening in or were behind them in line joined in with a grin.

"…We're all pawns here."

\V/

'We're all Pawns here' was a slogan of sorts for the white fang, before the slogan became 'death to all humans' or 'we are superior.' The original saying was shouted at a meeting. "We're trying to play the governments game, but all we got to play with were pawns." It was a bit of a joke and a rallying cry, a reminder that they were being held down but still fighting.

Jaune thought that that slogan was forgotten at about the same time morality was.

They were currently running through the trees in a group of eight, sticking close as they ran to their group. Jaune was in the lead, as his hearing was the best – so long as a black bow wasn't called into question – and he had already led them away from two Ursa and a pack of Beowolves.

The end of the forest was abrupt, and Jaune winced as the sudden light hit his eyes. The temple was obvious – a large, stone ruin with a stone bridge leading to it. Wiess – the group's unofficial leader, as she had taken charge and no one else really wanted to fight about it – called them to a stop.

"Alright. So, all we need to do is clear any threats around the temple and wait for the airship to come pick us up.

Jaune winced as his archnemisis was mentioned, then stiffened as a noise caught his attention. "Erm. Did anyone happen to piss off a Deathstalker on the way here? Because they usually don't leave their caves unless very, very angry."

Said massive scorpion emerged from the trees with a skitter of chitin on stone, letting out a shrill cry.

"Oh, hey Prickly! I missed you!" Ruby shouted, and Pyrrha hung her head.

Jaune sighed. "Ah. Should have known."

There was a shrill caw, and then a massive Nevermore soared over the tree tops, loosing a massive flurry of sharp, steel-hard feathers at them. The rest of the students rolled out of the way or otherwise dodged, as Jaune and Pyrrha raised their shields and deflected the feathers.

There was a pause for a moment, then Jaune spoke up. "And, ah, yeah, theres a massive Nevermore on the way too. In case you didn't notice."

As if this was their cue, the Grimm chose that moment to attack, the Nevermore swinging in for another strafing run as the Deathstalker charged, pincers opening in preparation to attack.

Jaune shouted out. "Ruby, Pyrra, Yang, Wiess – you have the best kit for long range and mid-air fighting, take out the Nevermore. Rest, with me – we have a bug to swat."

Wiess briefly looked miffed at Jaunes abrupt usurping of her command, and how the rest of the group split up as he did so. But she turned and followed the other three to the temple, as Jaune charged into the range of the massive scorpion.

"Careful, guys – damn thing has to be at least a century old, with that size and level of armor." He shouted, raising his shield to deflect a stab from the massive stinger and jumping over the snapping claws.

He 'lanced' Crocea Mors, using the sudden shifting of the weapon to push him up and away from the scorpion as it stabbed down into the armor, leaving but a scratch but pushing the massive arachnid off balance. Nora took the opportunity to slam down on the beast with her hammer, pushing it down into the ground, but the rest of the group was forced to back off as it swung its claws wildly.

Outside of its range, Jaune took a moment to think. "Nora, can you give us some cover fire, but be ready to hammer it if an opening is made?" She nodded, grinning, her hammer turning into a grenade launcher as she shouted incredibly cheerful taunts at the beast.

"Ren, Blake, I'll draw fire, you two keep an eye out for openings. Try to go for the legs if you can – crippling it is just as good as killing it for now."

The two ninja – because, really, they were ninja – nodded, splitting up and taking turns dashing in and out of range as Jaune charged straight at the beast, using his weapon in whip form to make several heavy but relatively unharmful slashes at the eyes of the Deathstalker. It's armor protected it from the worst, but massive amounts of metal flashing in your face will distract most people.

Jaune jumped over the Grimm, firing a flurry of blades at its eyes and then slamming his sword hilt-deep into its shoulder as it swiped ineffectually at him. He was forced to jump back off the beast to dodge a blisteringly fast sting from its tail. He grabbed the hilt of Crocea Mors, leaving behind the blades and letting them form a flat top and widen the blade out. As he did so, Ren dashed out and sliced off one of the Grimm's legs, and it turned to him.

He guestured with his hand to the glinting steel construct he had left behind in the armor of the scorpion. "Nora. Nail."

She was already in the air, grinning. "Nail, meet Hammer."

Her hammer slammed into the collection of blades he had left behind, forcing it straight into the armor and throwing the beast off balance again, which let the two assassins come in and slice off two legs each. Jaune then proceeded to call his blades back to him, which they did – not before ripping the right claw of the scorpion clear off in a shower of chitin, bone and ichor.

Nora didn't let up, firing three grenades at the unprotected right side before jumping in to slam the beast in the side. Ren and Blake let loose with a fire of bullets on the other side, and Jaune leaped up and stabbed it in the eye with his lance.

All of this happened within the span of a single second, and Jaune felt really proud that this whole 'teamwork' thing was working.

Of course, that was about the time when the scorpion decided it had had enough of their shit and smacked Nora in the side with it's tail, sending her flying into the trees with a thud. Then it smashed out with its remaining claw, forcing Ren and Blake to dodge hastily, before stabbing down at Jaune with enough force to pierce straight through his shield, then rip the shield off of his arm and send it spiraling down the cliff face nearby.

Jaune – now bereft of one half of his family heirloom and most of his ability to block – had to jump back hastily, then looked at his bare left arm in shock.

"I really liked that shield, man."

Nora bounded out of the trees, still somehow smiling despite cradling a shattered wrist to her chest. "Its replacable, Jaune – weapons are, people aren't."

"It was an antique! Not really replaceable."

"Im sure if you ask nicely enough they'll let you go look for the shield after the test, Jaune." Blake cut in with a smirk. "We have problems right now, so." She guestured to the heavily injured scorpion. "If you would please?"

Jaune sighed, then nodded. "Alright. Right side of the bug is injured, so it will turn slower there. Ren, Blake, same tactic – try to heard it to the cliff side. Nora…" He paused as he thought for a moment, an idea forming. "… Do you have any remote detonating explosives or is it all –" He grabbed a pink grenade with flowers on it as Nora tossed it to him, then caught the detonator hastily as well.

"-… Huh. Alright, place them in a semi-circle around the cliff edge, away from the bridge. Lets give this bug a proper fall, shall we?"

Blake and Ren darted out, drawing the scorpions attention as Nora ran behind it. Jaune formed his whip again, using it to slash out at the Grimm, and it roared in challenge.

Jaune, Ren and Blake took turns dashing in and out, one attacking whatever side was open while the other two fired bullets or blades at its open wounds to draw attention. Each strike sent the beast closer and closer to the cliff side, and soon Nora came back into the fray, firing grenades at the beasts feet and occasionally smashing into it with her hammer with force her tiny body should not have been able to create.

Soon, the Deathstalker found its feet scrabbling for purchase on air, and it roared again, this time in panic as the group jumped back, standing well beyond the half –dozen bright pink explosives buried in a half-circle, enclosing the space the Deathstalker was standing on.

Jaune raised the detonator he still had in his hand, then grinned as he threw the grenade at the Grimm. It bounced on the ground, before rolling to a stop at its feet.

"Tick, tick, tick…" Nora muttered with a grin that belied just how much crazy was hiding behind that bubby personality.

The scorpion screamed, rushing towards them, as Jaune pressed the trigger on the (pink and flowery) detonator. There was a slight delay, then a beeping sound as right lights blinked on all seven explosives.

"Boom." He finished, turning away from the cliff. Because cool guys don't look at explosions.

There was a massive eruption of soil and rock, and the sound of the explosion momentarily deafened them – not enough for them to miss the sound of the rockside of the cliff collapsing and the scream of the Deathstalker as it fell to it's death.

They looked at each other and grinned, before Nora and Jaune lowfived as he handed her the detonator back.

The silence turned slightly awkward after a few moments, until Jaune asked "Well… Huh. Anyone know any good one-liners? I'm fresh out."

\V/

"… will be team CRDL, under the lead of Cardin." There was a polite applause as the group of four walked off the stage, and Ozpin shuffled his papers on his podium, before tapping his cane once.

"Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie will be team RPLN under the lead of Ruby Rose!" He said with a shout, and the four gathered together with smiles, and Ruby's look of open-mouthed shock.

"And last but not least…" Ozpin shuffled some more papers, then tapped his cane on the ground again, before looking up. "Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, Wiess Schnee and Yang Xio-Long will be team JBWY, under the lead of Jaune Arc."

Their four portiats and respective initials appeared on the screen, and they stepped forward together and nodded. Wiess shot Jaune a… not a dirty look, but a judging one, before she nodded and stepped forward with them.

"That will conclude the team assignments. Please report to Ms. Goodwhitch for your room assignments and…" Jaune tuned Ozpin out as he looked to his team.

The Schnee Heir, who clearly had some sort of issue with him, the former second in command of the White Fang – who was hiding her Faunus heritage for some reason – and hot-headed blonde brawler.

Well. It promised to be an interesting year, at the very least.

 **\V/**

 **I'm just gonna stop estimating when the chapters will be done now.**

 **Thanks for all your continued support, and see you next time!**

 **-Xander**


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